In honor of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and legacy, the Atlanta Community Food Bank is hosting the MLK Day YOUTH Essay Contest! Contestants must be between the ages of 8-17 to enter, and all entries are due on Monday, January 12 by noon. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will be invited to read their essays at a special invitation only luncheon at ACFB on January, 19 from 11:30 am-1:00 pm.

Betty Dowling volunteers in our Kids In Need school supply store several days a week. After 37 years as an educator at the Georgia Tech College of Architecture, Dowling began to dedicate her time to volunteering. Since her first shift in 2013, Dowling has served as an essential team leader in our KIN program as a leader and managing the day-to-day tasks as part of the program. Here's her view on Kids In Need and volunteering.

We were pleasantly surprised last month to hear that we would be hosting a wedding party food sort in our Product Rescue Center. With a total of 65 wedding party volunteers and everyone coming in from different parts of the country, you can just imagine how that looked!

This week marks National Volunteer Appreciation Week and here at the Atlanta Community Food Bank, that’s a big deal. Volunteers are important to us. Without them, our work wouldn’t be possible. We have volunteers who help us sort and pack food boxes in the Product Rescue Center, stock shelves on the Grocery Floor and Kids In Need, load food on to vehicles for our partner agencies, work in gardens, help with administrative tasks, distribute food at mobile food pantries, and collect food and funds at special events, just to name a few.

I volunteered at the ACFB once before and really enjoyed the experience. So, I was excited to volunteer there again, except this time with my firm, Porter Keadle Moore! I didn’t expect us to get a tour of the facility as part of our community service outing…That was a very pleasant bonus! The tour guide told us a lot about the history of the food bank and their role in the Atlanta community. I learned that they are more far-reaching than I would have ever suspected, serving many areas outside of metro Atlanta and even in other states.

Recently, the Food Bank’s Volunteer department got a brand new assistant. This assistant tracks available volunteer opportunities, allows you to sign up for them and maintains volunteer profiles. Sounds like a superhero, right? Surprise: it’s a new volunteer management system!

Last week marked the first in a series of visits to our partner agencies for Feeding America’s Hunger in America 2014 Study. ACFB staff visited four food pantries to survey clients.

The Hunger in America Study is the only comprehensive nationwide study that provides in depth information on the characteristics, circumstances, and coping strategies of those living with hunger. The study is done once every four years, and publishes detailed reports for the nation and each state, including Georgia.

National Volunteer Week may have come and gone, but we’re still buzzing with excitement.

Here at the Food Bank, we simply couldn’t do what we do without volunteers. Last fiscal year, it would have taken 52 full-time staff members to complete the work our volunteers accomplished. So, when given the opportunity to celebrate them, we go all out!

This week, we’ve asked our staff who utilize volunteers to write a small post about why volunteers are so important to the Food Bank and to their program. From Michael DeCoursey, the Hunger Walk/Run Project Manager:

For the past 29 years ACFB has hosted our annual Hunger Walk/Run event, to help raise both awareness and much needed funds to support local hunger relief efforts. From inception, the event has grown from around 1000 participants in 1984, to over 15,000+ in 2013.

This week, we’ve asked our staff who utilize volunteers daily to write a small post about why volunteers are so important to the Food Bank and to their program. From Fred Conrad and the Community Gardens team:

This time of year is always one of the busiest for us--it's time for ACFB’s Community Gardens project to help plant and maintain more than 150 gardens across metro Atlanta.

This week, we’ve asked our staff who utilize volunteers to write a small post about why volunteers are so important to the Food Bank and to their program. From Cicely Garrett and the Atlanta Prosperity Campaign team:

This week, we’ve asked our staff who utilize volunteers to write a small post about why volunteers are so important to the Food Bank and to their program. From Rodney Benn and the Product Rescue Center team:

This week, we’ve asked our staff who utilize volunteers daily to write a small post about why volunteers are so important to the Food Bank and to their program. From Barbara Overton and the Kids In Need team:

In recognition of National Volunteer Week, April 21-27, we would like to thank all of our volunteers for their continued support. Through your volunteer contributions, we are able to continue to fight hunger by engaging, educating and empowering our community. In 2012, volunteers contributed 109,000 hours of service to our operations. Simply amazing!

Last week, students across the metro area took pause from their educational enlightenment for spring break. For many, spring break means a road trip to the beach with family and friends, but due to the continuing rough economy and high fuel costs, some are opting for the ever popular staycation, while others look to the grandparents to play the role of hero, swooping in to assume childcare responsibilities for the week.